The 1984 Individual Speedway World Championship was the 39th edition of the official World Championship to determine the world champion rider. Without former champions

Ivan Mauger Ivan Gerald Mauger (4 October 1939 – 16 April 2018) was a New Zealand motorcycle speedway rider. He won a record six World Championships (Finals), a feat equalled only with the inclusion of the Speedway GP Championships by Tony Rickardsson ...

, Ole Olsen, Peter Collins, Michael Lee, and

Bruce Penhall Bruce Lee Penhall (born May 10, 1957) is an American former professional motorcycle speedway racer who later starred in television and in film. He was the World Speedway Champion in 1981 and 1982 and rode for the successful Cradley Heath Heathen ...

, the 1984 World Final, held for the eighth time at the

Ullevi Ullevi, sometimes known as Nya Ullevi (, ''New Ullevi''), is a multi-purpose stadium in Gothenburg, Sweden. It was built for the 1958 FIFA World Cup, but since then has also hosted the World Allround Speed Skating Championships six times; the ...

Stadium in Göteborg,

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic countries, Nordic c ...

, was seen by some as the battle of the second tier riders. Though history would ultimately prove the first and second placed riders as among the best

Motorcycle speedway Motorcycle speedway, usually referred to simply as speedway, is a motorcycle sport involving four and sometimes up to six riders competing over four anti-clockwise laps of an oval circuit. The motorcycles are specialist machines that use only ...

has ever seen, winning every World Final between them until the end of the 1980s. Dane

Erik Gundersen Erik Gundersen (born 8 October 1959 in Esbjerg, Denmark) is a former motorcycle speedway rider in the late 1970s and 1980s. Gundersen is one of the most successful speedway riders of all time. He was the ...

won his first Speedway World Championship from countryman Hans Nielsen who defeated

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

Lance King in a run-off for second and third places. Defending champion

Egon Müller Egon Müller (born 26 November 1948 in Kiel, Germany) is a former international motorcycle speedway rider and was winner of the Speedway World Championship in 1983, winning the title in his homeland with a maximum score of 15 points. Career Mo ...

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 ...

could not reproduce his 1983 World Final form and finished 14th with just 3 points from his 5 rides. 1983 runner-up

Billy Sanders William Robert Sanders (9 September 1955 – 23 April 1985Oakes, P (1982). ''Daily Mirror 1982 Speedway Yearbook''. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. ) was an Australian international Speedway rider who won six Australian Championships and w ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

, the track record holder at Ullevi, fared marginally better, finishing 11th with just 5 points.

British Qualification

British Final

*June 20, 1984 *

Coventry Coventry ( or ) is a city in the West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its city status until the Middle Ages. The city is governed b ...

Brandon Stadium Brandon Stadium, also known as Coventry Stadium, is located 6 miles east of Coventry in Brandon, Warwickshire, England. It was the home of the Coventry Bees motorcycle speedway team. It also hosted BriSCA F1 Stock Car Racing on the 1st Satur ...

*First 8 to Overseas final

Swedish Qualification

Intercontinental Round

Australian Final

*January 29, 1984 *

Mildura Mildura is a regional city in north-west Victoria, Australia. Located on the Victorian side of the Murray River, Mildura had a population of 34,565 in 2021. When nearby Wentworth, Irymple, Nichols Point and Merbein are included, the area h ...

*First 2 to Overseas final plus 1 reserve

New Zealand Final

* February 4, 1984 *

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon Rive ...

* First 2 to Overseas final plus 1 reserve

Norwegian Final

* April 25, 1984 *

Skien Skien () is a city and municipality in Vestfold og Telemark county in Norway. In modern times it is regarded as part of the traditional region of Grenland, although historically it belonged to Grenmar/Skiensfjorden, while Grenland referred the ...

* First 2 to Nordic final

American Final

* June 9, 1984 *

Long Beach Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California. Incorporat ...

, Veterans Memorial Stadium *First 3 to Overseas final plus 1 reserve

Nordic Final

* June 12, 1984 *

Norrköping Norrköping (; ) is a city in the province of Östergötland in eastern Sweden and the seat of Norrköping Municipality, Östergötland County, about 160 km southwest of the national capital Stockholm, 40 km east of county seat Linkö ...

, *First 7 to Intercontinental final

Overseas Final

* July 15, 1984 *

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The ...

Belle Vue Stadium Belle Vue Stadium was a greyhound racing track in Belle Vue, Manchester, England, where the first race around an oval track in Britain was held on 24 July 1926. It has also been used for motorcycle speedway, as the home ground of Elite League ...

* First 10 to the Intercontinental Final plus 1 reserve

Intercontinental Final

* July 20, 1984 *

Vojens Vojens (german: Woyens) is a railway town in Denmark with a population of 7,475 (1 January 2022).Rovno Rivne (; uk, Рівне ),) also known as Rovno (Russian: Ровно; Polish: Równe; Yiddish: ראָוונע), is a city in western Ukraine. The city is the administrative center of Rivne Oblast (province), as well as the surrounding Rivne Ra ...

* First 5 to World Final plus 1 reserve

World Final

*1 September 1984 * Göteborg,

Bamford, R. & Shailes, G. (2002). ''A History of the World Speedway Championship''. Stroud: Tempus Publishing.

References

{{Speedway Grand Prix seasons

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

Individual An individual is that which exists as a distinct entity. Individuality (or self-hood) is the state or quality of being an individual; particularly (in the case of humans) of being a person unique from other people and possessing one's own need ...

Speedway competitions in Sweden